Disk cartridge

ABSTRACT

A disk cartridge incorporating a disk-shaped recording medium and having an opening portion for enabling a recording and/or reproducing operation by a recording and/or reproducing device includes a disk cartridge main body and a disk holder which is detachably mountable to the disk cartridge main body. The disk holder is mountable to the disk cartridge main body along with the disk-shaped recording medium, the disk holder is constituted by a structure which is detachable to outside of the disk cartridge main body along with the disk-shaped recording medium, and the disk holder includes a pair of resilient and deformable disk holding members for holding an outer periphery of the disk-shaped recording medium.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/233,205, filedJan. 19, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,087, the subject matter of whichis incorporated by reference herein, and relates to copending U.S.application Ser. No. 09/456,422, filed Dec. 8, 1999.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a disk cartridge incorporating adisk-shaped recording medium such as an optical disk, a magneto-opticaldisk or the like.

Conventionally, a disk such as an optical disk or the like is used in adisk-shaped recording medium. These disks are frequently used by beingincorporated in a disk cartridge to prevent recording/reproducing errorfrom causing by adhesion of dust and dirt or the like to a record face.

In the meantime, according to a disk-shaped recording medium, when therecord density remains the same, naturally, the larger the diameter, thelarger the record capacity. Meanwhile, when a disk-shaped recordingmedium mentioned above is used as a recording medium of a portablerecording/reproducing device, for example, a video camera or the like, asmall-sized disk is excellent in portability. Therefore, disks havingdifferent sizes may be used for a disk of a portable device and a diskof a stationary device. In this case, a small-sized one is naturallyused for a disk cartridge used in the portable disk. When the recordingsystem remains the same and the size of disk differs, if the disk can bemounted to a recording/reproducing device, record/reproduction can becarried out by recording/reproducing means installed to therecording/reproducing device. Therefore, by taking only a disk from asmall-sized disk cartridge and switching it to a disk cartridge havingan outer configuration the same as that of a disk cartridge of astationary device, the disk for potable use can be recorded/reproducedby a recording/reproducing apparatus for stationary use.

As a structure for taking out a disk from a disk cartridge, there isprovided a method of arranging a portion capable of inserting anddetaching a disk at a portion of a disk cartridge as disclosed in, forexample, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-5-242626.

FIG. 20 shows a conventional structure of taking out a disk from a diskcartridge. A disk insertion and detachment port 12 c is installed at aposition other than a position arranged with a shutter 3 c and a diskinsertion and detachment port opening and closing member 8 c is arrangedthere. Normally, according to the disk insertion and detachment portopening and closing member 8 c, a locking claw 9 is fitted to a lockinghole 13 installed to a disk cartridge 1 c and the disk insertion anddetachment port 12 c is closed. In taking out a disk 4, the locking claw9 is disengaged from the locking hole 13 and the disk insertion anddetachment port opening and closing member 8 c is rotated centering on afulcrum, the disk insertion and detachment port 12 c is opened andinsertion and detachment of the disk 4 is carried out. In this case, thetaken out disk 4 is handled by the hand and accordingly, the record facemay be touched erroneously by the hand and may be contaminated thereby.

Further, the disk cartridge may be provided with information inherent toan incorporated disk. In that case, holes or notches are provided on thesurface of the cartridge and information of the disk is transmitted tothe device side by presence or absence of the holes or the notches. Asinformation provided to a disk cartridge, there are, for example,information which can be switched by a user as in prevention ofrecording to prevent erroneous recording and information which has beendetermined from the start in respect of an incorporated disk as indifferentiation of a disk for music from a disk for recording computerdata. When the disk is moved between different cartridges, according tothe conventional method, only the disk is moved and information providedto a disk cartridge mentioned above is not moved.

Further, in recent years, a disk both faces of which are used as signalfaces as in DVD-ROM/RAM has been spreading. In the case of such a disk,a printed face is difficult to set on the disk and accordingly, a useris difficult to grasp later information concerning the disk, that is,what file name of data, software name, controller, date and so on arewritten therein. When a disk is moved between different cartridges,according to the conventional method, only the disk is moved, the diskis difficult to discern when it is taken out from the disk cartridge anda disk to be exchanged may be taken wrongly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides means for moving a disk without directlyin touch with it when the disk is moved between disk cartridges.

That is, there is provided a moving method for moving a disk along witha disk holder as means for moving the disk without directly in touchwith the disk and according to the method, a disk cartridge isconstituted by a main body portion and a disk holder and when a disk ismoved, the disk is held by the disk holder, the disk is moved along withthe disk holder and accordingly, it is not necessary to directly touchthe disk.

For this purpose, there is constructed a structure in which a diskholder is arranged to a disk cartridge and the disk holder can bedetached from the disk cartridge main body. Further, the disk holder isprovided with disk holding member, when the disk holder is mounted tothe disk cartridge main body, the disk holding member releases holdingof the disk, when the disk holder is detached from the disk cartridgemain body, the disk holding member holds the disk and the disk isdetached from the disk cartridge along with the disk holder. Further,when a disk is moved between different disk cartridges, the disk ismoved along with the disk holder.

Further, there is constructed a structure in which disk holding memberregulating portions are installed at inside of a disk cartridge and whena disk holder is attached to the disk cartridge, the disk holding memberis brought into contact with the disk holding member regulating portionsand are elastically deformed by which the disk holding member releasesholding of the disk.

Further, there is provided a reverse insertion preventing means forpreventing a disk holder from being inserted into a disk cartridge witha surface and a rear surface thereof upside down when the disk holder isattached to the disk cartridge.

As reverse insertion preventing means, the shape of a disk cartridgemain body and the shape of the disk holder are formed in shapes whichare not fitted to each other when the disk holder is inserted into thedisk cartridge main body with the surface and the rear face upside downand as reverse insertion preventing means, shapes of the disk holdingmeans may be made asymmetrical in respect of the left and rightdirections.

Further, according to the invention, when the disk is moved betweendifferent disk cartridges, disk information held by a disk cartridge canbe moved along with the disk.

For that purpose, information in respect of the disk held by the diskcartridge is provided at a disk holder portion. When the disk is movedbetween the different disk cartridges, the disk is moved along with thedisk holder. Then, the information in respect of the disk held by thedisk cartridge is provided at the disk holder portion and when the diskis moved to a different disk cartridge, the disk information held by thedisk holder portion can be read by a recording and/or reproducingdevice.

Further, an information holding portion of a recording medium isprovided to a disk cartridge main body and the disk cartridge main bodyincorporates transmitting means for transmitting information held by adisk holder to the information holding portion of the disk cartridgemain body in the case where positions of an information holding portionof the disk holder and the information holding portion of the diskcartridge main body differ from each other when the disk holder isattached to the disk cartridge main body.

Further, the information in respect of the disk of the disk holder canbe detected at least from two directions.

Further, the information in respect of the disk of the disk holder isidentified by presence or absence of notches at least over two faces ofthe disk cartridge.

Further, in the case of a disk cartridge where movement of a disk is notneeded, an outer configuration shape thereof is made substantially equalto that of the above-described disk cartridge and the shape of theportion of holding the information in respect of the disk is madesubstantially equal thereto. Further, the disk cartridge is providedwith a structure where only an opening portion equal to or smaller thanthe outer configuration of the disk is installed and the disk cannot beinserted into or detached from the disk cartridge by which a diskcartridge having a compatibility with the above-described disk cartridgeis realized.

Further, according to the invention, a region for determining the diskinformation provided to the disk cartridge or a label region to which auser can arbitrarily write information can be moved when a disk is movedbetween different disk cartridges.

For that purpose, the region for determining disk information or thelabel region is provided to the disk holder. Or, there is constructed aconstitution of providing a label region to which a user can arbitrarilywrite or erase necessary information and/or a region onto which a labelcan be pasted. That is, the information which the user can write and/orerase as necessary in respect of a disk is provided to a disk holderportion and even when the disk cartridge main body is changed, theinformation of the disk remains in the disk holder portion.

Further, the label region and/or the region on which a label is pastedis constituted to previously provide a recess portion of 0.2 mm or moresuch that it is not raised in contrast to a face where the region isprovided even when a paper label or the like is pasted on the diskholder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of the present invention and is aview showing a structure of a disk cartridge;

FIG. 2 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and is a viewshowing a state in which a disk holder is detached from the diskcartridge;

FIG. 3 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and is a viewshowing a behavior of mounting the disk holder to a disk cartridgehaving different shape and size;

FIG. 4 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and is a viewin which the disk holder has been mounted to the disk cartridge havingdifferent shape and size;

FIG. 5 is a view showing an embodiment of the invention and is a viewshowing the structure of a disk cartridge;

FIG. 6 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and a viewshowing a state in which the disk holder is detached from the diskcartridge;

FIG. 7 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and a viewshowing a behavior of mounting the disk holder to a disk cartridgehaving different shape and size;

FIG. 8 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and is a viewin which the disk holder has been mounted to the disk cartridge havingdifferent shape and size;

FIG. 9 is a view showing an embodiment of the invention and a viewshowing an outlook of a disk cartridge;

FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C are views showing the embodiment of the inventionand views explaining disk information transmitting means installed tothe disk cartridge;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are views showing the embodiment of the invention andviews showing a shape of a disk information holding portion installed tothe disk holder;

FIGS. 12A and 12B are views showing the embodiment of the invention andviews explaining the operation of the disk information transmittingmeans installed to the disk cartridge;

FIGS. 13A and 13B are views showing an embodiment of the invention andan upper view showing the structure of a disk cartridge and a viewshowing a label;

FIG. 14 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and an upperview showing a state of detaching a disk holder from the disk cartridge;

FIGS. 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, 15E and 15F are views showing embodiments ofthe invention and explanatory views of a disk cartridge and labelregions of the disk cartridge;

FIG. 16 is a view showing an embodiment of the invention and an upperview showing a behavior of mounting a disk holder to a disk cartridgehaving different shape and size;

FIG. 17 is a view showing the embodiment of the invention and an upperview in which a disk holder is mounted to the disk cartridge havingdifferent shape and size;

FIGS. 18A and 18B are views showing an embodiment of the invention andexplanatory views in which a disk holder is mounted to a disk cartridgehaving different shape and size;

FIGS. 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D and 19E are views showing an embodiment of theinvention and explanatory views showing stepped differences of a labelregion of a disk holder; and

FIG. 20 is a view explaining a conventional disk cartridge which is adisk cartridge having a disk insertion and detachment port forexchanging a disk.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An explanation will be given of an embodiment of the invention inreference to FIG. 1 through FIG. 4 as follows. FIG. 1 is a viewexplaining of the structure of a disk cartridge according to anembodiment of the invention. A disk cartridge 301 a is installed with anopening portion through which a recording and/or reproducing devicemakes access to a disk 4 for recording and/or reproducing. A shutter 3 acovers the opening portion to prevent dust and dirt or the like fromadhering to the disk 4 when the disk cartridge 301 a is at outside ofthe recording and/or reproducing device and the shutter 3 a is urged inthe closing direction by a shutter spring 2 a. A disk holder 5 which canbe detached from the disk cartridge 301 a is arranged at a portionopposed to a position where the shutter 3 a is arranged. In this case, adisk cartridge main body 1 a is defined by a remaining constituentportion which is constituted when the disk holder 5 is detached from thedisk cartridge 301 a. The disk holder 5 is attached thereto by engagingtogether locking claws 6 with locking holes 7 and when the disk holder 5is detached therefrom, the locking is released by detaching the lockingclaws 6 from the locking holes 7. The disk holder 5 is attached withholder arms 10 a and 10 b for holding the disk 4 and in a state in whichthe disk holder 5 is attached to the disk cartridge main body 1 a, theholder arms 10 a and 10 b are brought into contact with arm regulatingmembers 11 a and 11 b and are elastically deformed in a direction ofreleasing the holding state of the disk 4. Further, the shapes of theleft holder arm 10 a and the right holder arm 10 b differ from eachother and in this embodiment, according to the shape of the holder arm10 a, an accurate angle portion at a front end of the holder arm 10 b isremoved. The arm regulating member 11 a is formed to engage with theshape. By forming the shapes of the left and right holder arms 10 a and10 b in this way, in attaching the disk holder 5, insertion thereof withthe surface and the rear face upside down can be prevented. That is, inthe case of the embodiment, when the disk holder 5 is inserted with thesurface and the rear face upside down, the front end of the holder arm10 b is brought into contact with the arm regulating member 11 a and thedisk holder 5 cannot be completely inserted. Although according to theembodiment, reverse insertion is prevented by constituting the left andright arm holders 10 a and 10 b and the left and right arm regulatingmembers 11 a and 11 b are asymmetrical from each other, the constitutionis not limited thereto but the reverse insertion may be prevented by amethod in which, for example, a protrusion or recess is installed toonly one of the left and right disk holders and a shape matching theprotrusion or the recess is arranged in a disk cartridge.

FIG. 2 shows a view in which the disk holder 5 is detached from the diskcartridge 301 a according to the embodiment. As shown by the drawing,the holder arms 10 a and 10 b installed to the disk holder 5 are formedto hold the disk 4. Although when the disk holder 5 is attached to thedisk cartridge main body 1 a, the holder arms 10 a and 10 b areelastically deformed by the arm regulating members 11 a and 11 b and arereleased from holding the disk 4, when the disk holder 5 is detachedtherefrom, the holder arms 10 a and 10 b recover to original shapes andhold the disk 4. Thereby, when the disk holder 5 is detached, the diskholder 5 can be detached along with the disk 4. In this case, anoperator does not directly touch the disk 4 and therefore, fat, oil orthe like of the hand does not adhere thereto.

An explanation will be given of a method of moving the disk 4 held bythe disk holder 5 to a disk cartridge having different shape and size inreference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a view showing a disk cartridgemain body 1 b having shape and size different from those of the diskcartridge 301 a in correspondence with the disk holder 5 of FIG. 1. Thedisk cartridge main body 1 b is a disk cartridge larger than the diskcartridge main body 1 a. The disk cartridge main body 1 b is arrangedwith a shutter 3 b and a shutter spring 2 b similar to the diskcartridge main body 1 a. Further, arm regulating members 11 c and 11 dfor elastically deforming the holder arms 10 a and 10 b are arranged atinside thereof. Different shapes are also constituted for left and rightarm regulating members 11 c and 11 d for preventing reverse insertionand correspond to the shapes of the holder arms 10 a and 10 b. A diskinsertion and detachment port 12 b for inserting and detaching the diskholder 5 is provided at a portion opposed to a position in which theshutter 3 b is arranged and the disk insertion and detachment port 12 bcan be opened and closed by a disk insertion and detachment opening andclosing member 8 b. The disk insertion and detachment port opening andclosing member 8 b is locked by engaging a locking claw 9 to a lockinghole 13 and by disengaging the locking claw 9, the locking is releasedand the port can be opened.

The disk 4 is moved by inserting the disk holder 5 holding the disk 4into the disk insertion and detachment port 12 b and closing the diskinsertion and detachment port opening and closing member 8 b and by theoperation the movement of the disk 4 into the disk cartridge main body 1b is completed with no direct touch with the disk 4. FIG. 4 is a viewshowing a disk cartridge 301 b in which the disk 4 has been attached tothe disk cartridge main body 1 b. Similar to the disk cartridge mainbody 1 a, the holder arms 10 a and 10 b are elastically deformed in adirection of releasing the holding state of the disk 4 at time point atwhich the disk holder 5 is inserted into the disk cartridge main body 1b.

By the above-described constitution, the disk can be moved betweendifferent cartridges with no direct touch with to the disk.

Next, an explanation will be given of successive embodiments of theinvention in reference to FIG. 5 through FIG. 12. A disk holder 105 isinstalled with sensing areas 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d, 15 a, 15 b, 15 cand 15 d for having a recording and/or reproducing device determineinformation of a disk. According to the embodiment, both faces of thedisk 4 can be used as a premise and each of the sensing areas 14 a, 14b, 14 c and 14 d and the sensing areas 15 a, 15 b, 15 c and 15 d holdsinformation of one face thereof. Accordingly, the sensing areas 14 a, 14b, 14 c and 14 d and the sensing areas 15 a, 15 b, 15 c and 15 d areinstalled at positions symmetrical with each other in respect of thesurface and the rear face. Further, the sensing area of the embodimentis identified by 1 bit constituted by presence or absence of a notch atthe disk holder 105 as shown by FIGS. 11A and 11B. According to a diskcartridge 17 a, the sensing areas are prepared at 4 locations in respectof one face and accordingly, information of 4 bits can be held. Asinformation which can beheld by the sensing areas 14 a, 14 b, 14 c and14 d and the sensing areas 15 a, 15 b, 15 c and 15 d, there are, forexample, a piece of information which can be switched by a user forprevention of recording to prevent erroneous recording and a piece ofinformation which has already been determined from the start in respectof a disk to be incorporated as in differentiation of a disk for musicuse from a disk for recording computer data or differentiation of a diskin correspondence with one face from a disk in correspondence with bothfaces. By reading information of the sensing areas, information of thedisk 4 in the disk cartridge 17 a can previously be detected by arecording and/or reproducing device.

FIG. 6 is a view in which a disk holder 105 is detached from the diskcartridge 17 a. When the disk holder 105 is detached therefrom, holderarms 113 a and 113 b installed to the disk holder 105 hold the disk 4and the disk 4 can also be taken out therefrom along therewith. In thiscase, a user does not directly touch the disk 4 and accordingly, fat,oil or the like of the hand does not adhere thereto. An explanation willbe given of a behavior of attaching the disk holder 105 to other diskcartridge main body 101 b in reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. FIG. 7 is aview showing the shape of the disk cartridge main body 101 b havingshape and size different from those of a disk cartridge main body 101 aof FIG. 5 to which the disk holder 105 corresponds. A notch 107penetrated to inside of the disk cartridge is installed at the vicinityof a disk insertion and detachment port 112 b. FIG. 8 is a view showinga state in which the disk 4 has been attached to the disk cartridge mainbody 101 b. The sensing areas 14 a, 14 b, 14 c and 14 d installed to thedisk holder 105 are exposed to outside of the disk cartridge via thenotch 107 installed to the disk cartridge main body 101 b and arecording and/or reproducing device can previously detect information ofthe disk 4 by reading information of the sensing areas 14 a, 14 b, 14 cand 14 d. In this way, when a disk is moved between different diskcartridges, disk information held by the disk cartridge can also bemoved.

An explanation will be given of another embodiment of the invention inreference to FIG. 9 through FIG. 12. FIG. 9 shows a large-sized diskcartridge 17 c similar to the disk cartridge shown by FIG. 7 in theprevious embodiment. Originally, a disk having a diameter larger thanthat of the disk 4 shown by the previous embodiment is used in a diskcartridge having shape and size the same as those of the disk cartridge17 c. Therefore, the disk information is also provided at a portionproximate to an end of the disk cartridge to prevent interference with alarge diameter disk. Therefore, disk information detecting means of arecording and/or reproducing device for use of a large-sized diskcartridge is also installed at a position in correspondence with thedisk information providing portion. Hence, also in a disk cartridge mainbody 101 c capable of exchanging disks according to the invention,sensing areas 16 a, 16 b, 16 c and 16 d holding disk information areinstalled at position the same as those in an original large-sized diskcartridge. The disk information of the disk holder 105 is dealt with byinstalling transmitting means for detecting information of the sensingareas of the disk holder 105 and transmitting the information to thesensing areas of the disk cartridge main body 101 c. By the transmittingmeans, detecting means exclusive for the sensing areas of the diskholder 105 needs not to install at a recording and/or reproducingdevice.

An explanation will be given of an embodiment of disk informationtransmitting means in reference to FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C and FIGS. 11Aand 11B. As shown by FIGS. 11A and 11B, the disk holder 105 (shown inFIG. 7)is provided with 4 locations of the sensing areas in respect ofone face thereof where 4 bits of information can be held. In detectingthe sensing areas, a recording and/or reproducing device makes accessfrom a lower face of a disk, that is, from B direction of FIG. 11A anddisk information transmitting means of the disk cartridge main body 101c of FIG. 10A makes access from A direction. Accordingly, as shown byFIG. 11A, the sensing areas 15 a, 15 b, 15 c and 15 d of the disk holder105 are identified by presence or absence of notches over 2 faces suchthat they can be detected from 2 directions. The notch portions may bean erroneous recording preventing portion 20 and so on for switchinginformation later by a user as shown by FIG. 11B. In the meantime, thedisk information transmitting means is constituted by sensor arms 111 a,111 b, 111 c and 111 d, sensor pins 18 a, 18 b, 18 c and 18 d andtorsional springs 19 a, 19 b, 19 c and 19 d as shown in FIGS. 10A, 10B,10C. FIG. 10A is a penetrating view of the disk information transmittingmeans and FIG. 10B and FIG. 10C are perspective views showing positionsof the sensor arms 111 a, 111 b, 111 c and 111 d and arm rotationalcenters 110 a, 110 b, 110 c and 110 d. The sensor arms 111 a, 111 b, 111c and 111 d are rotatable respectively around the arm rotational centers110 a, 110 b, 110 c and 110 d and are urged in one direction by thetorsional springs 19 a, 19 b, 19 c and 19 d. In this case, front ends ofthe sensor arms 111 a, 111 b, 111 c and 111 d are disposed at positionsof the sensing areas 16 a, 16 b, 16 c and 16 d. Further, the sensor arms111 a, 111 b, 111 c and 111 d are rotated around the arm rotationalcenters 110 a, 110 b, 110 c and 110 d when forces are exerted atposition designated by arrow marks of FIG. 10B and front ends of thesensor arms 111 a, 111 b, 111 c and 111 d are moved and accordingly,recess portions are caused at the sensing areas 16 a, 16 b, 16 c and 16d. The sensor pins 18 a, 18 b, 18 c and 18 d are arranged respectivelyin correspondence with positions of the sensing areas 14 a, 14 b, 14 cand 14 d of the disk holder 105 and transmit presence or absence ofnotches of the sensing areas 14 a, 14 b, 14 c and 14 d of the diskholder 105 (shown in FIG. 7) to the sensor arms 111 a, 111 b, 111 c and111 d.

A specific explanation will be given of the operation of the diskinformation transmitting means in reference to FIGS. 12A and 12B. FIGS.12A and 12B are views explaining a state of one bit of disk information.As shown by FIG. 12A, when a notch is present in the sensing area 14 bof the disk holder 105 (shown in FIG. 7), the sensor pin 18 b enters thenotch and the to sensor arm 111 b is not pushed. Therefore, the sensorarm 111 b is urged to an initial position by the torsional spring 19 band the sensing area 16 b is closed by a front end portion of the sensorarm 111 b. In the meantime, when there is no notch in the sensing area14 b of the disk holder 105 as shown by FIG. 12B, the sensor pin 18 b ispushed by a wall face of the disk holder 105 and pushes the sensor arm111 b. Therefore, the sensor arm 111 b is rotated around the armrotational center 110 b, the front end portion of the sensor arm 111 bis moved and accordingly, a recess portion is caused at the sensing area16 b. Further, a recording and/or reproducing device detects the diskinformation by determining presence or absence of the recess portion ofthe sensing area 16 b of the disk cartridge 17 c.

In this way, the disk information can be transmitted from the diskholder 105 to the disk cartridge main body 101 c by the disk informationtransmitting means.

Further, when a disk cartridge which needs not to move a disk in arecording and/or reproducing device using the disk cartridge accordingto the invention, by substantially equalizing an outer configuration ofa disk cartridge and by using a disk cartridge having no disk holder andprescribing only sensing areas to the same shapes, a disk cartridgehaving compatibility in which parts such as a disk holder and the likeare reduced can be realized.

By the above-described constitution, when a disk is moved betweencartridges having different shapes and sizes, disk information held by acartridge can also be moved simultaneously.

Next, an explanation will be given of successive embodiments of theinvention in reference to FIG. 13A through FIG. 19E. In this case,according to the embodiments, there is constructed a constitution inwhich a disk holder 205 is installed with a label region 30 to whichinformation necessary for a disk can be written or a label 31 as shownby FIG. 13B can be formed and pasted on the label region 30 in view ofachieving storage or convenience in use of the disk 4 by a user.Further, although FIG. 13A shows a case in which the label region 30 isdisposed on an upper face thereof, the invention is not limited theretobut the label region 30 may be disposed on one face on the rear side ofthe disk holder 205 and naturally may be both faces thereof.

FIG. 14 is an upper view when the disk holder 205 is detached from thedisk cartridge main body 201 a according to the embodiment.

Successively, an explanation will be given of further embodiments inreference to FIGS. 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, 15E and 15F. FIG. 15A is a viewviewing a disk cartridge 217 a of FIG. 13 in an arrow mark A directionand FIG. 15B is a view viewing the disk cartridge 217 a of FIG. 13 in anarrow mark B′ direction, respectively.

Although in the previous embodiment, a description has been given of acase in which the label region 30 is used on the upper face of the diskholder 205, according to the embodiment, as shown by FIG. 15A, there isshown a case in which a label region 32 is provided on the front face ofthe disk holder 205. Also in this method, information of the disk caneasily be determined by the user.

Further, an explanation will be given of further embodiments inreference to FIG. 15C, FIG. 15D and FIG. 15E.

FIG. 15C shows an upper view of a disk cartridge according to theinvention, FIG. 15D shows a front view thereof and FIG. 15E shows a sideview thereof, respectively. Further, in FIG. 15C, a shutter and holderarms are omitted for simplification. In FIGS. 15C, 15D and 15E, numeral4 designates the disk, numeral 205 designates the disk holder andnotation 201 c designates a disk cartridge main body which is differentfrom the disk cartridge main body 201 a shown by FIG. 13 in a state inwhich the disk holder 205 is locked by the disk cartridge main body 201c, respectively. According to the disk cartridge of the invention, in astate in which the disk holder 205 is locked by the disk cartridge mainbody 201 c, the upper face and the side faces of the disk holder 205 arecovered by the disk cartridge main body 201 c and accordingly, when thelabel region is provided, for example, on the upper face of the diskholder 205, the label region is concealed. However, by providing thelabel region 32 on the front face of the disk holder 205 as in theinvention, the user can easily confirm information of the disk.

Further, an explanation will be given of further embodiment in referenceto FIG. 15F. FIG. 15F shows a view viewing the disk cartridge 217 a froman arrow mark B direction in FIG. 13. According to the invention, thereis provided a constitution in which a hole 201 b in a window-like shapeis opened on a side face of the disk cartridge 217 a and a side faceportion of a holder arm 213 b can be seen. Further, a label region 33 isprovided at the side face portion of the holder arm 213 b and byarbitrarily writing information to the region by the user, informationof the disk 4 can easily be determined. Further, there may beconstructed a structure in which a transparent sheet member is pasted onthe hole 201 b in a window-like shape such that dust or dirt isprevented from invading from outside to inside of the disk cartridge andthe label region 33 can be recognized.

As has been explained above in reference to FIG. 13A through FIG. 15E,when the label region 30, 32 and 33 are present in the disk holder 205,the label regions are installed on the upper face and/or the front faceand/or the side face of the holder arm 213 portion integrallyconstituted with the disk holder 205 and in that case, the constitutionmay be dealt with by forming a shape in which a hole is opened in awindow-like shape at a portion of the disk cartridge main body such thatthe label region can be confirmed when the disk holder is attached tothe disk cartridge main body 201 a or 201 c and a similar effect can beachieved.

When the label regions 30, 32 and 33 are used in this way, for example,file name, software name, controller, date, information by bar codes andso on of data written to a disk can freely be written or erased suchthat the user can easily use it. The user may describe necessary contentto the label regions 30, 32 and 33 directly by a writing instrument suchas a “felt-tip pen” or the like or may form the paper label 31 or thelike separately as mentioned above and thereafter may paste it on thelabel region 30 and/or the label region 32 and/or the label region 33.Thereby, the disk holder 205 can be used similar to a paper labelgenerally pasting on a floppy disk or the like, the user can easilydetermine the disk and accordingly, easiness of use is significantlypromoted.

Successively, an explanation will be given of an embodiment when thedisk holder 205 is attached to other disk cartridge main body inreference to FIG. 16 and FIG. 17. FIG. 16 is a view showing the shape ofa disk cartridge main body 201 f having shape and size different fromthose of the disk cartridge main body 201 a of FIG. 13. The diskcartridge main body 201 f is a disk cartridge larger than the diskcartridge main body 201 a. A shutter 203 f similar to that of the diskcartridge main body 201 a is arranged at the disk cartridge main body201 f. A disk insertion and detachment port 212 f for inserting anddetaching the disk holder 205 is provided at a portion opposed to aposition at which the shutter 203 f is arranged and can be opened andclosed by a disk insertion and detachment port opening and closingmember 208 f. The disk insertion and detachment portion opening andclosing member 208 f is locked by a locking claw 209 and can be openedby releasing the locking by disengaging the locking claw 209. The disk 4is moved by inserting the disk holder 205 holding the disk 4 into thedisk insertion and detachment port 212 f and closing the disk insertionand detachment port opening and closing member 201 f and by theoperation, the movement of the disk 4 into the disk cartridge main body201 f is completed with no direct touch with the disk 4. Further, anotch 207 penetrating the inside of the disk cartridge is installed at avicinity of the disk insertion and detachment port 212 f. Further, thelabel region 30 is provided in the disk holder 205 and the user freelywrites information concerning the disk or describes informationnecessary for the disk 4 to the label 31 and pastes it.

FIG. 17 is a view showing a state in which the disk 4 is attached to thedisk cartridge main body 201 f. In this case, the label region 30installed to the disk holder 205 is exposed to the outside of the diskcartridge via the notch 207 installed to the disk cartridge main body201 f and the user can easily confirm content of the disk 4 byinformation of the label region 30.

Further, in the invention, so far as the disk cartridge main body 201 fis provided with shape and/or material by which the label region on thedisk holder 205 can be seen when the disk holder 205 is attachedthereto, shape, size and position of the notched portion are notparticularly prescribed. Further, there may be constructed anyconstitution whereby the label region can be confirmed by forming ashape in which a hole in a window-like shape substituting for thenotched portion of the disk cartridge is provided at the disk cartridgemain body 201 f and pasting a transparent sheet on the hole in awindow-like shape.

Successively, an explanation will be given of further embodiment inreference to FIGS. 18A and 18B.

FIG. 18A shows a view viewing FIG. 17 from an arrow mark C directionafter opening the disk insertion and detachment port opening and closingmember 208 f. Further, the disk insertion and detachment port openingand closing member 208 f is omitted for simplification. Also in thiscase, by providing the label region 32 on the front face of the diskholder 205, by only opening the disk insertion and detachment portmember 208 f without taking out the disk 4 from the disk cartridge 201f, the content of the disk 4 can easily be recognized by informationdescribed in the label region 32.

Further, FIG. 18B shows a view viewing a disk cartridge 217 f in FIG. 17from an arrow mark D direction. According to the invention, there isconstructed a constitution in which a hole 201 g in a window-like shapeis opened at a side face of the disk cartridge 217 f and the side faceof a holder arm 213 b can be seen. Further, the label region 33 isprovided at the side face portion of the holder arm 213 b and byarbitrarily writing information by the user by using the region,information of the disk 4 can easily be determined. Further, there maybe constituted a structure in which a transparent sheet member is pastedon the hole 201 g in a window-like shape such that dust or dirt can beprevented from invading from outside to inside of the disk cartridge andthe label region 33 can be recognized.

Successively, an explanation will be given of further embodiment inreference to FIGS. 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D and 19E.

According to the invention, a recess portion is provided at a labelregion and/or a region capable of pasting a label.

FIG. 19A is an upper view of a disk holder 215 and FIG. 19B is asectional view taken from a line E—E of FIG. 19A. According to theexample of the invention, a label region and/or a region capable ofpasting a label is provided on the upper face of the disk holder.

Although the constitution and the function of the disk holder 215 aresubstantially the same as those of the above-described disk holder 205,a label region and/or a region 34 capable of pasting a label is formedin a shape recessed by 0.2 mm or more from a face 37 where the regionsare provided. When the label 31 is, for example, a paper label, thethickness is about 0.1 through 0.2 mm and accordingly, even when thepaper label is pasted on the label region and/or the region 34 capableof pasting a label, the label 31 is not raised in a projected shape incontrast to the face 37 having the label region. Hence, even when thedisk holder 215 is locked to a disk cartridge main body, notillustrated, dimensions of outer configuration of the disk cartridge arenot changed and accordingly, it can be mounted to a recording and/orreproducing device with no hazard. Further, although according to theembodiment, the label region and/or the region capable of pasting alabel is constituted to provide on the upper face of the disk holder215, it may be provided on the lower face in accordance with necessityof the user or may be constituted to provide on both faces of upper andlower faces.

Further, FIG. 19C is a front view of a disk holder 225 and FIG. 19D is asectional view taken from a line F—F of FIG. 19C. According to theexample of the invention, a label region and/or a region 36 capable ofpasting a label is constituted to provide on the front face of the diskholder. Although the constitution and the function of the disk holder225 are substantially the same as those of the above-described diskholder 205, the label region and/or the region 36 capable of pasting alabel is formed in a shape recessed by 0.2 mm or more from a face 38where the regions are provided. When the label 31 is, for example, apaper label, the thickness is about 0.1 through 0.2 mm and accordingly,even when the paper label is pasted on the label region and/or theregion 36 capable of pasting a label, the label 31 is not raised in aprojected shape in contrast to the face 38 having the label region.Therefore, even when the disk holder 225 is locked by the disk cartridgemain body, not illustrated, dimension of outer configuration of the diskcartridge is not changed and accordingly, the disk holder 225 can bemounted with no hazard to a recording and/or reproducing device.

Further, FIG. 19E is a side sectional view of an outline of a diskholder 235. The constitution and the function of the disk holder 235 aresubstantially the same as those of the above-described disk holder 205and accordingly, an explanation thereof will be omitted. In this case,label regions and/or the regions 34 and 36 capable of pasting labels areprovided on upper faces and a front face of the disk holder 235.Further, the label regions and/or the regions 34 and 36 capable ofpasting labels are formed in shapes recessed by 0.2 mm or more incontrast to the faces 37 and 38 where the regions are installed.

An effect thereof is similar to those explained in reference to theabove-described FIGS. 19A, 19B, 19C and 19D and accordingly, anexplanation thereof will be omitted.

Further, the recess portions of the regions may be provided at a holderarm portion integrally constituted with the disk holder portion, or maybe constituted to provide on side faces of the disk holders or sidefaces of the holder arms by which a similar effect can be achieved.

Although as mentioned above, an explanation has been given of variousembodiments, it is commonly constituted that a region representinginformation of a disk is provided at a disk holder and a disk is movedalong with the disk holder and in any cases, there is achieved an effectcapable of determining easily the disk by previously writing informationof the disk directly to a label region arbitrarily by the user and/orpasting information at the region.

By providing a region representing information of a disk at a diskholder, when the disk is moved between disk cartridges, the diskinformation held by the disk holder can simultaneously be moved and evenwhen the disk enters a disk cartridge, the content of the disk caneasily be confirmed via the disk holder.

Further, the content of the disk can also be written to or erase from alabel region arbitrarily by the user and accordingly, easiness of usecan significantly be promoted.

What is claimed is:
 1. A disk cartridge incorporating a disk-shapedrecording medium and having an opening portion for enabling a recordingand/or reproducing operation by a recording and/or reproducing device,comprising: a disk cartridge main body; a disk holder which isdetachably mountable to said disk cartridge main body; wherein saidopening portion of the disk cartridge is provided in said disk cartridgemain body; wherein said opening portion is closed by a shutter arrangedat said disk cartridge main body such that said disk-shaped recordingmedium is shielded from outside by said shutter when the disk cartridgeis outside of the recording and/or reproducing device; wherein when thedisk cartridge is inside of the recording and/or reproducing device,said shutter is moved and said opening portion is opened such that therecording and/or reproducing device can carry out reproducing orrecording operation from or to said disk-shaped recording medium;wherein said disk holder is mountable to said disk cartridge main bodyalong with said disk-shaped recording medium; wherein said disk holderis constituted by a structure which is detachable to outside of saiddisk cartridge main body along with said disk-shaped recording medium;and wherein said disk holder includes a pair of resilient and deformabledisk holding members for holding an outer periphery of said disk-shapedrecording medium.
 2. The disk cartridge according to claim 1, whereinsaid pair of disk holding members hold said disk-shaped recording mediumat least at positions disposed more inwardly than a center of saiddisk-shaped recording medium in an insertion direction in said diskcartridge main body.
 3. The disk cartridge according to claim 2, whereinsaid disk holder extends over the outer periphery of said disk-shapedrecording medium for more than 180°.
 4. The disk cartridge according toclaim 3, wherein said pair of disk holding members have end portions inwhich a distance between the end portions of said pair of disk holdingmembers is smaller than a diameter of said disk-shaped recording mediumfor holding said disk-shaped recording medium at least at the positionsdisposed more inwardly than the center of said disk-shaped recordingmedium in the insertion direction in said disk cartridge main body. 5.The disk cartridge according to claim 4, wherein said disk holderenables holding of said disk-shaped recording medium independently ofthe position of said disk holder including a position in which saiddisk-shaped recording medium and said disk holder are held in an upsideposition and in an upside down position.
 6. A disk cartridgeincorporating a disk-shaped recording medium and having an openingportion for carrying out recording and/or reproducing operation by arecording and/or reproducing device, comprising: a disk cartridge mainbody; a disk holder which is detachably mountable to said disk cartridgemain body; wherein said opening of the disk cartridge is provided insaid disk cartridge main body; wherein said opening portion is closed bya shutter arranged at said disk cartridge main body such that saiddisk-shaped recording medium is shielded from outside by said shutterwhen the disk cartridge is outside of the recording and/or reproducingdevice; wherein when the disk cartridge is inside of the recordingand/or reproducing device, said shutter is moved and said openingportion is opened such that the recording and/or reproducing device cancarry out reproducing or recording operation from or to said disk-shapedrecording medium; wherein said disk holder includes a disk holdingmember holding said disk-shaped recording medium so that when said diskholder is mounted to said disk cartridge main body, said disk holdingmember releases holding of said disk-shaped recording medium, and whensaid disk holder is detached from said disk cartridge main body, saiddisk holding member holds said disk-shaped recording medium and saiddisk holder is detachable from said disk cartridge main body along withsaid disk-shaped recording medium; and wherein said disk holder includesa pair of resilient and deformable disk holding members for holding anouter periphery of said disk-shaped recording medium.
 7. The diskcartridge according to claim 6, wherein said pair of disk holdingmembers hold said disk-shaped recording medium at least at positionsdisposed more inwardly than a center of said disk-shaped recordingmedium in an insertion direction in said disk cartridge main body. 8.The disk cartridge according to claim 7, wherein said disk holderextends over the outer periphery of said disk-shaped recording mediumfor more than 180°.
 9. The disk cartridge according to claim 8, whereinsaid pair of disk holding members have end portions in which a distancebetween the end portions of said pair of disk holding members is smallerthan a diameter of said disk-shaped recording medium for holding saiddisk-shaped recording medium at least at the positions disposed moreinwardly than the center of said disk-shaped recording medium in theinsertion direction in said disk cartridge main body.
 10. The diskcartridge according to claim 9, wherein said disk holder enables holdingof said disk-shaped recording medium independently of the position ofsaid disk holder including a position in which said disk-shapedrecording medium and said disk holder are held in an upside position andin an upside down position.